Specialist Biomedical Scientist

Job summary

As a Specialist Biomedical Scientist you will be a fully competent member of the department. Normally working as part of a team, you will be expected to perform a wide range of specialist clinical technical investigations. At other times you may be required to work alone and independently, for example when working on-call. Working in different sections of the department you will have the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute towards the provision of an accurate and timely service for patients. You will be expected to apply professional judgements and specialist skills to technically complex and sometimes difficult situations. Within the team you may be required to organise the tasks of support workers. You will be required to communicate highly complex information, often related to patient management and care, to colleagues, healthcare staff and other organisation.

You will be required to attend MDT and other user meetings where appropriate. Post holders will be involved in R&D and may lead projects, under supervision, where appropriate.

The post holder will assist in the day to day running of the laboratory or a particular section of the laboratory, under supervision/delegation of the advanced biomedical scientist. This will involve QC and EQA authorisation, training, risk and incident assessment and investigation and HR procedures. The post holder will be expected to have an awareness of budgets and resource responsibility.

Main duties of the job

Perform a wide range of complex technical procedures. These will include the safe and effective use of highly complex laboratory equipment. Your level of knowledge and understanding of these procedures will be consistent with that to allow you to recognise system failures and errors. You will understand the need to report adverse events in the event of such errors and failures using appropriate laboratory and Trust policies.

Use of LIMS to enter, manage, retrieve, interpret, validate and authorise complex patient information and results.

To be an integral member of a team providing a clinical technical service and a high quality laboratory service.

To work independently when and as required by the service, for instance when working alone in the provision of the emergency on-call service or providing urgent results. The postholder as a specialist scientist within their field will be guided by principles and broad occupational policies/SOPs within the confines of the Quality Management System.

To work with precision and follow accurately the documented laboratory standard operating procedures

Communication of complex, clinical technical information to users of the service, in a manner that is in accordance with departmental procedures. This may include providing specialist clinical technical advice to clinical teams

Have knowledge and understanding of current national legislation and guidelines relevant to the speciality.

About us

Our values are part of what make us different from other trusts, so we see this as a strength, as well as a responsibility. They have been developed by our staff and set out what they see as important to how we work. Our five values are

Patient-centred

Collaborative

Fair

Accountable

Empowered

All our actions and endeavours will be guided and evaluated through these values

As a healthcare worker dealing with sensitive (patient related) information the importance and value of personal honesty and integrity as a commitment to patient service and confidentiality will be recognised. You will maintain registration with the Health Care Professions Council as a biomedical scientist and abide by the HCPC standards of proficiency, assuring the quality of your work for patients. In contributing to the quality of a technical clinical service you will understand the requirements continuously develop appropriate skills and knowledge.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB PURPOSE/SUMMARY

In order to carry out the job sufficiently and effectively you will have successfully studied for an accredited degree in biomedical sciences, or other equivalent qualification acceptable to the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS). You will have developed a range of competencies and specialist knowledge in all aspects of the discipline through extensive practical experience, in house training and structured study through the IBMS specialist portfolio programme and will continue to develop your skills and knowledge subject to the requirements of continuous professional development (CPD). In addition, basic computer skills and use of various laboratory and Trust based databases are essential to carry out your work.

The post holder will have undertaken all mandatory training required for their role and be willing to attend training to facilitate learning in areas such as basic HR functions, appraisal, incident investigation etc.

ORGANISATIONAL CHART

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Advanced Biomedical Scientist

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Specialist Biomedical Scientist

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Registered Biomedical Scientist

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Trainee Biomedical Scientist

PRINCIPAL DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Clinical/ Scientific /Technical

To undertake specialist clinical technical investigations for the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease

Under direction of the team lead co-ordinates effective workflow management with prioritisation of samples received within specialist area.

Development and validation of in house quality control material and reagents in conjunction with section leadership.

To participate in equipment testing, validation and adaptation as a function of service development.

To operate, maintain highly complex laboratory equipment safely and efficiently. Use specialist expertise for complex trouble shooting and resolution of technical equipment failure and analytical processes.

This job requires a high degree of dexterity and precision when manipulating small tools such as pipettes, handling very small volumes of clinical material or when preparing microscope slides for examination by others. In order to achieve the required turnaround times the work must be performed with both speed and accuracy

Leadership and Management

To provide leadership and contribute to general departmental management, for instance, by producing rotas, assisting in the ordering, receipt and control of consumables,

HR responsibilities including actively participating in line management, attendance management, recruitment and departmental appraisal scheme.

The post holder will be responsible for the day to day management of a group of staff and the supervision of qualified staff or students.

To plan and prioritise the designated workload within a laboratory section and assist in the organization of tasks undertaken by other scientists and support workers.

To demonstrate relevant tasks to others as appropriate and complete.

To take account of changes in service delivery by demonstrating a flexible approach to work.

Actively supports and encourages individual and team development.

To deputise for more senior staff where appropriate.

Leads waste reduction incentives for designated area.

Contributes to management reports.

Supports collaborative team working across all sections.

Quality / Training

To be involved in the production of laboratory documentation such as SOPs, risk assessments and training records.

Supports a robust programme of training and competency assessment within the area of specialist responsibility, ensuring that procedures are only undertaken by staff with the requisite knowledge and skills at all times.

To contribute actively towards the improvement of service quality by participation in relevant discussions with other team members including staff and departmental meetings.

Participate actively in departmental internal and external quality assurance schemes. Your level of knowledge and understanding will allow you to recognise when expected levels of quality have not been met.

Manages key performance indicators in specialist area. This includes supporting section lead in the monitoring and performance of IQC and EQA.

Support appropriate clinical trials involving the laboratory.

Contributes to audit completion in specialist area.

Contributes to H&S compliance and audits in specialist area.

Contributes to QMS compliance/alignment in specialist area.

Conducts incident investigations and risk management including Datix

Monitoring of results to identify any unexpected trends in assay performance.

Supports with research, development and evaluation of new methods/instruments/tests, including verification of new technologies/tests in specialist area.

Leads continuous service improvement in specialist area.

Leads implementation of corrective actions from audits.

Maintain patient confidentiality. You will recognise the absolute requirement to protect sensitive information that is related to patient care.

Observe the requirements of departmental policies relating to service provision, for example sample labelling and adverse event reporting.

To maintain registered status as a biomedical scientist with the Health Care Professions Council.

Participate in the maintenance of a safe working environment. This will include an awareness of the hazards associated with your work. In addition you will be made aware of any suitable actions to take in the event of breaches in health and safety. Such hazards include fire, manual handling, breaches of security, controlled and uncontrolled exposure to chemical, biological and radioactive materials.

Other

To gain new knowledge through experience, formal study and participation in relevant training schemes including CPD.

The post holder will be expected to gain competence in techniques to enable participation in the delivery of 24 hour Pathology service. This entails contracted participation in a 24/7 rota and / or the out of hour rota.

The post holder will be required to work cross site locations (LGI & SJUH) if the service requires it.

Any other duties commensurate with grade following discussion with line manager

This is not an exhaustive list of roles and responsibilities, and these may be subject to change with professional and service developments.

INFECTION CONTROL

The jobholder must comply at all times with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Infection Control policies, in particular by practising Universal Infection Control Precautions. Hand hygiene must be performed before and after contact with patients and their environment.

HEALTH AND SAFETY / RISK MANAGEMENT

All staff are responsible for working with their colleagues to maintain and improve the quality of services provided to our patients and other service users. This includes complying at all times with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Policies, including Health and Safety policies, in particular by following agreed security and safer working procedures, and reporting incidents using the Trust Incident Reporting system.

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

The jobholder must comply with all policies and procedures designed to ensure equality of employment and that services are delivered in ways that meet the individual needs of patients and their families. No person whether they are staff, patient or visitor should receive less favourable treatment because of their gender, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion etc.

TRAINING AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

The jobholder must take responsibility in agreement with his/her line manager for his/her own personal development by ensuring that Continuous Professional Development remains a priority. The jobholder will undertake all mandatory training required for the role.

COMMUNICATION & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

As the job holder you will communicate and work directly or indirectly with a diverse range of other staff. Those shown below are examples:

Internal

Junior staff, colleagues, supervisors and managers within the speciality.

Pathology staff working in other specialities.

Members of clinical teams including nurses, doctors and other practitioners.

Administrative and secretarial staff.

Estates and facilities staff.

External

Staff in primary care facilities

Staff in other hospitals

Staff in non NHS organisations (for example suppliers of consumables, equipment engineers)

Patients

SPECIAL WORKING CONDITIONS

Physical Effort:

Many tasks involve the job holder standing at equipment or sitting at the laboratory bench for extended periods.

This job may include movement of goods of light and moderate loads up to 15kg. There is the occasional requirement to move loads of 20kg with the aid of a trolley.

It is anticipated there will be the occasional requirement to exert moderate physical effort for several short periods in a shift.

Mental Effort:

The day to day repertoire of this job is diverse and the job holder can expect to be asked by supervisory staff to change tasks at short notice. In order to minimise errors concentration is required on a daily basis when processing specimens. Occasionally this may require prolonged concentration and is subject to workload.

This task requires concentration so that personal safety is maintained, and equipment is not damaged.

Emotional Effort:

In normal circumstances there is little patient contact by the job holder and exposure to emotional circumstances is limited.

Working Conditions:

The post holder will work generally in a laboratory environment and may be required to sit or stand

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Degree (or equivalent) suitable for HCPC registration. Registered biomedical scientist. Specialist portfolio (2006 registration onwards) (or equivalent) Competence in a wide range of comp

Desirable

Must have Specialist portfolio or BBTS

Additional Requirements

Essential

Physically able to move around and between sites

Experience

Essential

Post registration experience within the speciality

Skills & behaviours

Essential

Excellent communication skills, oral and written. Able to work in a team. Able to work independently. Basic knowledge and computer literacy Knowledge of conventional IT software Microsoft

Desirable

Good concentration, Manual Dexterity, Good hand/eye coordination, Attention to detail and Basic computer skills

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